Over the last two class periods, we have "complexified" the concept of privacy. It occurs to me that a way of thinking about this is that privacy is both horizontal and vertical. The horizontal axis is interpersonal; our concerns that others may steal our online materials, or that we might embarrass ourselves by not being private enough about our Facebook photos, etc. However, we also saw that visibility can be importantly positive, allowing us to help others in need or discover people who are different than ourselves. On the vertical axis, we saw that the issue is power. Powerful forces can invade our privacy and sometimes we are fine with that--if they can find the bad guys by doing so, "I have nothing to hide" and therefore I don't care. On the other hand, how do I know what these forces are doing with my data? I don't know and it's hard to find out. In other words, there is a lack of transparency; the power is assymetrical (i.e., you don't have much and corporation and government have a lot).
I was wondering what the relationship might be between the vertical and horizontal meanings of privacy. Are they entirely separate? Or are there elements of each dimension that help us to understand the privacy issue better?
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Dr. Bob,
ReplyDeleteIf the vertical axis of privacy represents an unequal power relation and the horizontal axis corresponds to our interpersonal concerns, then it appears that the former is dictating the latter. Our concerns arise when, and only when, we realize the nature of our condition: we are watched but we cannot see. As such, it seems, the horizontal axis depends, very much, on the vertical.
Reading Nakamura's "Interrogating the Digital Divide", made me wonder if different minorities or subcultures would still have a vertical axis and a horizontal axis in regard to privacy.
ReplyDeleteDifferent minorities or subcultures relating to one another online could have differing levels of power or differing levels of skill allowing asymmetrical access to data. However they might still be interacting at interpersonal levels. I think the two axes still capture important information about privacy, but it seems like there might be something missing.
For example, I would like to put embarrassing myself to my friends at a different level than being fired by an employer. This does return to the transparency issue, but my employer might be completely transparent where the government isn't.